Harry Potter and the Refuge ::WIP::
by DaBear
Summary: Harry Potters life is changed by tragedy and now he needs a safe place to recover, Dumbledore has an idea, but the details leave something to be desired. H/G. Chapter 3 is up 'The Socks'
1. The Arrival

** Harry Potter and the Refuge  
by DaBear**

This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Chapter One  
~~The Arrival~~

After giving Fred and George Weasley his TriWizard Tournament winnings of 1,000 Galleon, Harry good naturedly pushed the Weasley twins out of the trains' compartment. He had some things to do in private before he went to the Dursley's and unfortunately he only had a few minutes in which to do them. Shutting the compartment door after having a grin at the still unconscious forms of Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabb and Gregory Goyle, Harry pulled his robe off and after having opened up his trunk he folds the robe up and stuffed it inside. He then scrounged around inside of the trunk before pulling his Invisibility Cloak out from underneath his school books. Standing back up Harry let the slick silvery fabric flow through his fingers while he briefly considered just putting it on and avoiding the Hell that is his family, the Dursley's, altogether this year. Maybe he could stay in Diagon Alley again, at the Leaky Cauldron, spend his time studying at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, and browsing around in Quality Quidditch Supplies, just like in his summer before third year, after blowing up Auth Marge.

After having pushed that lovely daydream from his mind Harry held the cloak up and carefully folded it lengthwise until it resembled a sash rather then a cloak. He then pulled up his shirt and wrapped the cloak around his middle twice before he tucked its ends securely into his pants. After letting the shirt fall back down, he was; for once, grateful to his whale of a cousin, as he couldn't see any discernable difference in the way the shirt lay. 

Harry then turned back to his trunk and the textbooks that are lying just under the robes Harry had just placed in there. Harry glanced out the compartment window and saw that the Weasley's were still on the platform saying their final goodbyes he quickly picked out both his Transfiguration and his Potions books. He then gave his wand a flick and with a muttered "_Minutum_," he shrunk both books and then he quickly lightened them as well with the Gravisarto charm that he and Hermione had run across in their frantic four days of study for the Third Task in the Library. Harry tucked them into his pocket now that they were the size and weight of a box of matches. Harry bent over and raised up the hem of his pants leg, he then stuck his wand down his sock so that if the Dursley's did take his trunk away from him this summer he would not be without his two most important magical items nor the books for his two most demanding classes. 

He grinned in amusement as he noticed that he was wearing Dobby's Christmas presents, Quidditch socks, one green with Snitches and the other red with broomsticks. He had not been paying attention as he had dressed himself this morning, apparently. Harry chuckled to himself as he picked up one end of his trunk and opened the compartment door. He made sure to drag his truck across the three unconscious Slytherins as he exited the train.

Uncle Vernon was waiting beyond the barrier in King's Cross station. Mrs. Weasley was close by him. She hugged Harry very tightly when she saw him and whispered in his ear, "I think Dumbledore will let you come to us later in the summer. Keep in touch, Harry."

"See you, Harry," said Ron, clapping him on the back.

"Bye, Harry!" said Hermione, and she did something that she had never done before, and kissed him in the cheek.

"Harry - thanks," George muttered, while Fred nodded fervently at his side.

Harry winked at them, turned to Uncle Vernon and was surprised by a hand on his elbow. Turning back around, he saw Ginny Weasley standing before him blushing. He hadn't realized how tall she had grown over the school year. While not a very tall person himself this was the first time that he had found himself looking at her chin rather then he forehead. Before he could open his mouth to say anything to Ginny, she had ducked her head shyly and kissed him quickly on the cheek opposite from Hermione; then while managing to blush even redder then before and squeaked out a quite, "Bye, Harry," before she dashed off after her mother.

Harry touched his cheek lightly in wonder and stared after her, not believing that Ginny had gotten up the nerve to not only speak to him, but kiss him as well. Uncle Vernon harrumphed loudly from behind Harry and Harry smiled to himself while he turned back around to follow him from the train station. 

Harry followed his Uncle Vernon out of King's Cross Station in Merry Old London, England in a much better mood then any he had been in since the 24th of June. Harry grinned to himself at Ginny's actions, while he could expect a peck on the cheek from Hermione as a friendly gesture, devoid of any romantic overtures, the same could not be said for the young Miss Weasley. Ginny's feelings for him were well known to Harry and, her predilection for singing cards aside, he felt that he could possibly return them. But, he had been at a loss on how to respond to her obvious feelings since his second year. His home life had left him without knowledge on how to deal with any emotions other then the negative, and even after four years Harry was still not used to Mrs. Weasley's hugs, he clenched up every single time. They felt good but he was so used to physical touches only bringing pain that he was afraid that he would never get over that initial flinch at contact. He had no clue on how to go about initiating anything and her shyness had stopped any advances from her side so they had been stuck in a limbo. He had noticed her of course, her hair made it rather hard not to, and he had realized that she was a very pretty girl, with her copper colored hair and slim body. He would have thought to ask her to the Yule Ball, after finding out that he had to go, except for the way that Ron had been acting this year Harry had wanted to avoid any further chances for arguments. Also the tendency for the twins to play pranks had made up Harry's mind that it would probably be safer to avoid Ginny and ignore his strange, mixed-up feelings that he had whenever seeing her.

Then, of course, he had noticed Cho, and she was as different from Ginny as night and day, while Ginny was rather tall now and had hair to rival the sun, Cho was smaller then Harry and her hair was black enough to shame a raven. Both equally pretty, yet different. Then he had found out Cho was going to the Ball with Cedric and after the events during the Third Task his brief attraction had died a horrid death along with Cedric.

Exiting the train station Harry was suddenly struck by the difference between the Muggle world and the Magical. Stepping through the barrier on Platform 9 ¾ was like waking up after the tornado in the movie 'The Wizard of Oz.' One world full of color, wonder and a feeling of life and magic and then there is the other; a drab and dreary world, seeming to lack the vitality and the simple and pure wonder that Harry has come to crave. Hermione doesn't seem to mind coming back to the Muggle world, but then again she didn't have to deal with a family as unimaginative and repressively Muggle as the Dursley's. 

Harry just shook his head at that thought, and glanced up at his uncle Harry while thinking back to what Hagrid had said before the train ride; what would come, would come… and he would just have to meet it when it did.

Lugging his trunk up and into the boot of the car Harry went around and climbed into the back seat of his Uncle's car with Hedwig, and after placing her cage on the seat beside him Harry looked forward to see that his Uncle was frowning at the bird in the rear view mirror of the car. Vernon failed to say anything though to Harry about her as he started up the car and pulled out of the car park and pointed the car towards Little Whinging, Surrey.

Harry was staring out the window of the car and idly watching the landscape and buildings pass by while trying not to think of anything in particular, and the Third Task in specific, when his Uncle began to speak, "Listen up Boy, your Aunt and I spent some time over the this last year coming to a decision on what to do with you after the incident last summer." After looking in the rear view mirror to confirm that Harry was indeed listening to him Vernon continued, "We have decided that the best thing to do... is to ignore you since those… freaks won't let us get rid of you. So that's exactly what is going to happen. You will be left a list of chores each morning on the kitchen table, and you _will_ have these chores done before five in the evening when I get back from the factory. Also, we will not be cooking you any food, and you will not be eating with us, you will cook your own meals with food that we have set aside for you and if you use all that up at breakfast you will _not_ be getting any more for dinner. Furthermore, you will be locked in your room after supper. I don't care what weird and disgusting things you want to do in there as long as it doesn't smell, sound or the neighbors can see… that your doing you know what. We will not stand to hear anything about… your freakishness from the neighbors. Is that understood?" All this was said in a very calm and very even tone but Harry could see that the back of Vernon's neck was getting red. Harry nodded in understanding when his uncle again caught his eyes in the rear view mirror. 

It was actually a better situation then he had hoped for, especially after the tonne-tongue taffy incident with their precious Dudleykinns. As long as he wasn't back in the cupboard under the stairs Harry felt that he should be able to deal with it.

"My sister Marge is here for the next week," Vernon continued. Harry rolled his eyes in frustration and sighed quietly. "And after talking about it we, Marge, your aunt and I, have come to the conclusion that it would be best for all involved if you were out of the house by next summer. We do not want you back after you leave this summer." Slashing his hand through the air he continued, "We will hear nothing more about you, your school, or your freakish friends ever again, do not come back and do not ever ask for anything ever again. Am I making myself clear?"

"As crystal," Harry said quietly while nodding his head. _~Nice to know I am loved isn't it?~_ With his hand on Hedwig's cage and his fingers poking through the bars he started stroking her head feathers softly as he turned his head back around to view the passing scenery, refusing to give Vernon any response other then calm acceptance. 

Vernon harrumphed again but Harry simply ignored him as he started to go over the letters of explanation that he will need to be writing to Headmaster Dumbledore, Sirius and the Weasley's tomorrow, in his head. 

After arriving at 4 Privet Drive Harry was hustled upstairs while, to his disgruntlement, his Aunt Petunia pushed his trunk into the cupboard under the stairs before locking it in with a padlock. As Harry was turning back to his Uncle Vernon to ask why she was putting his things in the cupboard, Vernon continued to shove Harry up the stairs and said, "You'll get it back when Marge leaves in a week. You just be grateful we let you keep that ruddy bird in the house."

Upon reaching his room Vernon pushed Harry in roughly, "I don't want to see, or hear from you till tomorrow at breakfast, is that understood, Boy?" He then slammed the door shut and Harry could hear him stomping off down the stairs.

Sighing to himself Harry set Hedwig's' cage on the battered desk and opened the cage up, after he offered her his arm to hop out onto, Harry stared at his room in resignation while softly stroking Hedwig's feathers. She nipped at his hand in affection and then bumping him with her head she turned around on his arm and leapt up and fluttered over and on top of her cage where she stared around at the room, her eyes large. After surveying the room twice she blinked at him, briefly nodded her head once before hooting softly, almost to herself, and closed her eyes to settle down for a nap.

Harry laughed to himself at Hedwig's antics and then reached into his pocket for his spell books and after taking them out he bent over to retrieve his wand... before stopping mid-motion. 

"Oh, bloody hell." Standing back up he stared at the books, which were no larger then a matchbook, for a second before sighing and smacking himself on the forehead. "I can't unshrink the bloody things without getting a letter from the Ministry." His shoulders drooped in despair at this major hole in what was his brilliant plan to keep his items over the summer, he could only desperately hope that he was allowed to go to the Burrow later on or he would not be able to do his summer homework for Transfiguration, or worse yet, Potions. Stuffing the books back into his pocket Harry sat mournfully on the bed before taking off his glass and then lying back he threw his arm over his eyes and tried to fall into sleep while in the background Ripper barked incessantly downstairs.

Harry's restlessness had made sleep difficult and his latest attempt was interrupted by a noise coming from the downstairs. It wasn't a loud noise but the house had been quite for the last few hours since Dudley had turned off his tele and gone to bed, so the noise stood out against the backdrop of the quite household. Drawing his arm back from over his face Harry strained his ears to discern the origin of the out of place noise. After a brief second he heard it again, a clicking noise, as of someone in healed shoes was walking across the kitchen floor downstairs. Harry's eyes widened in dismay as he attempted to convince himself that it was just Ripper making the noise, that the dog had just gotten himself lose and was running around downstairs. The noise was not Death Eaters and he was trying to convince himself that hanging around Professor Moody… er, Barty Crouch Jr. had made him just a tad bit paranoid, as he heard the sound again. He was attempting to convince himself of all these things but while doing this he was also slipping his glasses onto his nose and after glancing at the clock and seeing it say 2:20 in the morning he slipped from the bed as stealthfully as possible and bending over he pulled his wand out from his sock. He crept over to the door while muttering to himself "It's just the blasted dog, Potter, that's all it is, just the dog."

Slowly and cautiously he tried to open the door before realizing that Vernon must have locked him in. Realizing that if he used Alohamora and it turned out to be the dog he could get expelled from Hogwarts he was puzzled on how he was to check out the sound, before remembering the present from Sirius, the pocketknife.

After pulling it out of his pocket he tucked his wand under his arm before trying to figure out which arm was the one to open the door, the twins had helped him familiarize himself with his pocketknife but Harry was still a little bit sketchy on some of them. Finally finding the right one after a minute he gets the bedroom door unlocked he opened it just a crack after having listened for a few seconds. Looking up and down the upstairs hallway he fails to see anything moving around and was about to open the door further to go and check the downstairs, when, coming up the stairs, he saw the top of a black hood with a bone white mask shadowed underneath.

**Spells and other Odd words:**  
1) **minutum** : To less, diminish, decrease, grow smaller   
2) **gravisarto** : from gravis; heavy, weighty, and arto; to press together, reduce, abridged.  



	2. The Attack

** Harry Potter and the Refuge  
by DaBear**

This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Chapter Two  
~~The Attack~~

Quickly and quietly shutting the door Harry hastily heads over to the desk and grabbing up one of Dudley's old ballpoint pens and, with a second of searching, grabs a crumpled up piece of parchment from out of the wastebasket. Harry quickly jots down the situation to the Headmaster,  

_Professor Dumbledore,_

_At 2 in the morning on July the 4th Death Eaters have broken into my home at Privet Drive.  
I am sending Hedwig to you to let you know and… well let's hope I'm not dead when you get this._

_Harry Potter _

Spinning around towards the window after finishing the note Harry is about to grab Hedwig when he notices that his window is once again locked and barred from the outside of the house. There is no way Hedwig will ever fit through the gaps. Groaning in sespair Harry turns his head to Hedwig. 

"Do you have any ideas on how to get outta here, girl?" She just looks at Harry and hoots sadly.

A shouted Cruciatus Curse and his cousin's screams quickly follow the noise of Dudley's door being broken down.

"Crap!" 

This galvanizes Harry into action, as the pain filled shrieks of his cousin provides an eerie backdrop in Harry's ears while he hears the door across the hall from him, the guest bedroom, also being broken down. But rather then an Unforgivable the noise was followed by frenzied barking. A short yell is heard followed by a muted curse word and then there is a pained yelp from Ripper, as the Death Eater kicks the dog across the room. 

Aunt Marge's shrill voice is heard yelling, as Harry is making his way across the room with his wand ready, about her precious Ripper and how 'you freaks' are going to pay, and pay dearly, when she calls the police. Her rant comes to an abrupt and final end the uttering of "_Avada Kedavra!_" The house shudders as Marge's corpse fall to the floor. 

In Harry's room his hand has frozen on the doorknob at those words and his eyes close in pained grief while he mouths the words "Not again." Harry slumps against the wall as flashes of memory run roughshod through his mind. Harry sees Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff Seeker, lying dead in the graveyard, staring at him in seeming accusation, with his empty eyes. He hears his parents' voices echoing inside his mind shouting out their defiance and denial.

_"Take Harry and run…"_

_"No, not Harry…"_

_"Wands out ya reckon?"_

That last memory manages to shake Harry out of his recollections. Gripping his wand tightly he takes a large breath, in preparation of going out into the hallway and to what, Harry was sure, was going to be his last blaze of glory. Harry had no illusions of his ability to hold off multiple fully trained wizards, but he feels that he has to try. Harry is sure that it will turn out similar to the ending of a movie he had seen while he was younger, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." But Harry could not allow them to hurt the only family that he has left in this world.

About to turn the knob of his door Harry hears the master bedroom's door being flung open quickly followed by the booming of his uncle's shotgun. The scream of the Death Eater that he had just shot is almost enough to drown out Vernon's bellow "Get out of my house you ruddy freaks!" Another shot soon follows the first; again garnering a scream of pain and also what sounds to Harry like a tumble down the stairs. 

Uncle Vernon's standoff quickly comes to an end though as multiple people shout out the Killing Curse, both from the hallway and from Dudley's room next door. Harry flinches as the floor shudders under both Dudley's and Vernon's weight.

Aunt Petunias' wail of grief soon rises up and is as quickly silenced.

The silence that follows is deafening. Harry's head is shaking franticly in denial, tears leaking from his eyes, which are closed tight in grief. In just under one minute Harry's life is irrevocable changed as every one of his relatives are murdered by Voldemort's Death Eaters.

_~They're dead. They're all dead, Vernon, Petunia, Dudley… they're all dead. Just like Cedric, just like Mum and Dad.~ _Harry wipes the  tears of rage and sorrow off his face and he backs away from the door, hearing footsteps approaching from outside. 

**~Weep for the dead later Potter, escape is the need of the moment.~ **Gripping his wand tightly enough to make his knuckles go white, and the holly creak, Harry nods to himself and looking around the room for a way out he wracks his brain looking for a locking spell, a barrier spell, _any_ spell… that would give him the time that he needs. Harry is beginning to get desperate when something in his mind clicks…

_~~Flashback~~_

_"Hey Harry, come look at this."_

_Harry looks up from the dusty tome on protective charms that he is skimming through to see Hermione waving to him from a bookshelf near the table that they were using to research spells for the Third Task. Getting up from the table Harry walks over to his bushy haired friend and the book that she has open in her hands._

_"What did you find Hermione?"_

_"Look, I found a barrier spell that is resistant to most Unlocking Charms, even _Alohomora_." _

_Briefly looking over her shoulder and quickly reading the entry on the spell he pats his friends shoulder before saying, "That's nice, but I don't think that they will have me locking any doors in the Third Task, do you?"_

_Hermione nods her head in agreement after giving it some thought, but then smiles up at Harry and says, "Yes, but it's still an interesting spell."_

_Laughing at his friend, Harry heads back to the table to continue looking through his book._

_~End Flashback~_

Blinking his eyes to clear them of tears Harry brings his wand up to the ready position and focusing on his memory of the spell and its effects Harry brings his wand down in a snapping movement and praying to God, Quidditch and Albus Dumbledore, says the spell as forcefully as possible "_Forismunio_." 

An orange light leaves his wand and shooting across the room it splashes upon his door like liquid light. As the doorknob begins to turn; the light spreads out across the wood of the door and then across the doorframe as well. Once it completely covers the frame it flashes briefly once before quickly dissipating from view. The doorknob finishes its turn with a click. Harry catches his breath, as he watches the door… not open. Harry lets out his breath explosively, and then jumps as the door shudders under someone's shoulder as they try to force it. 

"Some brave Gryffindor I am." He mutters to himself at his start. Harry quickly folds up the letter that is still clutched in his hand before tying it to Hedwig's leg and turning back to the window Harry again brings his wand up. Remembering the library had triggered another memory, this one of the Reductor Curse that Harry had tried to use on the mist and the hedge during the Third Task. Harry flicks his wand forward and putting as much desperation into the spell as he possibly could yells "_Reducio_!"

Needless to say Harry is mildly surprised, as not only the window and the bars behind it are flung away from the house with the magical pulse of rust colored light, but also the entirety of the wall itself is blasted across the whole of the backyard. Harry blinks to himself in amazement and turning to Hedwig, who seems almost as surprised at the display of power as Harry, is about to say something when the door shudders again, this time under a duplicate of the spell Harry had just used. 

Harry files away in his mind the need to inform Hermione of the spells durability as he thrust his arm into the air to give Hedwig a head start in taking off. "Take that to Headmaster Dumbledore as fast as you can Hedwig!"

After watching his owl fly off into the night sky Harry again looks down into the yard below and briefly wishes that he had thought to shrink his Firebolt as well. Stepping back a bit from the hole in the wall in order to get a running start at it, Harry hears the increase, both in number and strength, of the spells being thrown at his door, and as he is not recognizing more then half of them, decides that its now or never. Harry runs up to the hole that he had made in the side of the house and leaps from it with all of his might.

**TBC…**

**Spells and other Odd words:**  
1)** forismunio** : from foris; a door, opening, entrance and munio : to fortify, defend, protect. 


	3. The Socks

** Harry Potter and the Refuge  
by DaBear**

This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Chapter Three  
~~The Socks~~

Harry's leap for freedom ended much sooner then he expected. 

The sudden cessation of his downward movement caused him to stumble and then fall roughly to his hands and knees. Harry was left scrambling frantically for purchase on a surface, that while it felt solid beneath his hands, appeared to be invisible. Harry pats the non-visible surface gingerly, to verify that it was indeed there even if he could not see it. As far as his hands could reach Harry felt the surface, smooth to the touch yet with enough traction that Harry was able scramble to his feet without undo effort. 

Glancing around in wonder Harry looks down past his glowing feet to the ground three meters below.

_~Wait a minute…Glowing feet_ ~ Harry gaped down at his feet as they glowed a strange mix of red and green, Lifting up one and then the other Harry notices that one foot, his left in fact is glowing red and the other green. Harry blinked in confusion for a second before he made the connection and was suddenly very glad that he hadn't been paying attention yesterday while getting dressed. 

After placing his feet back down and hopping once or twice to test the situation he looked up at his room when he heard a shattering noise coming from inside the house. The Death Eaters had decided that they were not going to be able to break down the door and one had the bright idea to move to the wall beside it. As Harry's spell had only fortified the door and its frame the first Reductor Curse that had been aimed at the wall blasts a jagged hole through it and Harry watched as the Death Eaters come pouring through into his room.

Harry had to ignore the strangeness of his current location as Death Eater spells soon erupted from the house towards Harry's rather exposed position. Harry ducks an unknown spell and throws a quick Stunning Charm in return before he suddenly flitted to the left to avoid the path of a spell that he hadn't even seen coming. Twisting around in amazement Harry watched the spell impact on a tree in the backyard causing it to ignite in reddish-blue flames. Harry made a solemn promise to himself to give Dobby a big, fat, juicy kiss on his round little noggin as well as a new pair of socks for every occasion as soon as he sees the house-elf… if he sees him, Harry had to qualify after he had to dodge another curse that was thrown at him leaving a bright blue trail across the night sky.

Harry decided that he needed to get out of the air soon as he was to exposed for his comfort. Besides he really needed to figure out how to get Dobby's socks to take him down to the ground. He remembered another curse from the extensive study session for the Third Task and after twirling his wand in a circle he flicked it at the Death Eaters, while shouting the Whirling Curse, "_Leviosa Turbo_," it was not a particularly damaging spell in and of itself but it was a great way to cause a distraction. The spell caught one of the Death Eaters and caused him to rise up into the air about a meter and started spinning like a top at an alarming rate of speed, after a few seconds his axis began to change as the wizards feet begin to rise up until he was spinning on his side. Two other Death Eaters are unable to get out of the way in the confines of Harry's small room and get knocked to the ground before a "_Finite Incantatum_" terminated the spell. The unlucky man was dropped from the air and, with the crunching noise of multiple broken ribs he landed on the edge of the hole that was all that was left of Harry's outside wall, before he fell from the second floor and into Aunt Petunia's roses with a moan of pain.

Meanwhile, during his distraction, Harry had managed to manipulate the socks into lowering him towards the ground, while the ability to fly had been something that he had always dreamed about, it had unfortunately left him out in the open rather badly. 

Just before Harry was about to touch down he was forced to dodge up and sideways into the air as numerous spells that were thrown down from the second floor as he gained the Death Eaters attention once more. Harry decided to keep himself in the air, a few centimeters at the least, as it obviously allowed him to dodge more effectively; almost automatically at times it seemed, Harry muses as his body moved to the left mid-air a little under a meter as three stunners were thrown at Harry from the second story. Harry noticed some of the Death Eaters either jumping down from the room or casting levitation charms on themselves to try and match Harry in the air. Harry decided that twelve to one odds are not the best for an underage wizard and after pushing his glasses firmly up on his nose turned to run. Harry threw his body towards the back fence simply by focusing on his desire to be there, standing still in mid-air yet sliding across the yard with both great ease and speed, Harry popped up and over the fence with just a moments thoughts. 

Harry had paused a second to get his bearings when the fence next to Harry exploded, sending shards of wood all over the grass and flowerbeds of his neighbors yard and Harry ducking for cover. Avoiding the bits of wooden shrapnel Harry flitted across the yard as fast as a snitch avoiding a Seeker. He was over the side fence and into the next houses yard before the Death Eaters were even to the hole in what was his back fence. Harry is again glad for Dobby's gift as he skimmed across the surface of the pool that he found in the next yard rather then floundering about in the water looking for the edge. He vaulted three more fences before dodging around a house to get out onto the street. Harry laughed to himself as the sound of a splash as one of the Death Eaters apparently fell into the pool reached him as he turned the corner.

After looking up and down the road Harry was about to take off, when he saw a strange sight. A woman was racing up Privit Drive toward his house with her dressing gown open, flapping in the wind and her kitten pajamas visible to the world. Mrs. Figg had apparently come to save the day, wand out and ready. His old babysitter, a witch? His mind boggled as he watched Old Lady Figg running up the street in a much more lively fashion then was her usual. No limp was apparent from her bad hip, and there was no arthritis-induced shuffling, this was a run worthy of the Olympics, especially since he could swear she was over seventy years old. 

Harry was forcibly reminded that stopping in surprise, or for any reason really, was a bad thing to do while on the run from people who were trying to capture, kill and or maim you. As Harry's mind was focused on Old Mrs. Figg he failed to notice a Death Eater as he scrambled over the fence that Harry had just cleared a minute before and then point his wand towards Harry. His socks had to dodge the Cruciatus curse for him, as a voice that he absently recognized as belonging to Walden Macnair, the Death Eater working within the Ministry's Dangerous Creatures Division shouted "_Crucio_!" The bright red curse flashed by Harry's shoulder and continues on down the street as his body is jerked quickly to the right.

Unfortunately Harry's dodging of the curse had lined it up perfectly to impact on old Mrs. Figg just a few seconds later. 

As the Unforgivable Curse hits Mrs. Figg, Harry's mind suddenly made a connection. Harry sees Dumbledore talking to Sirius and Snape in his minds eye. Taking place after the end of the Third task, while Harry was still in the Hospital Wing, and after Fudge had left he room Dumbledore had said, "_Sirius I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher – the old crowd_." His babysitters' last name and the name Albus Dumbledore had told Sirius to fetch as part of the 'old crowd,' Arabella Figg, they matched. Was it a coincidence? Mrs. Figg was obviously a witch and since every wizard and witch in England seemed to know who he was, she must have known and decided not to tell him. Maybe she was part of his supposed 'protection' that Dumbledore had set up. 

Deciding quickly that Mrs. Figg was probably on his side, and not Death Eater reinforcements Harry quickly flew over to Mrs. Figg, and as she was starting to crumble to her knees under the pain of the curse Harry reached out and caught her under her arms as she begins to fall. Harry is briefly hit with the Cruciatus curse as well before moving to the right to get out of the curse's path, Harry then flings himself and Mrs. Figg up and over the neighbors' house, to escape Macnair's range. 

Harry stopped briefly in the back yard, both to resituate Mrs. Figgs' weight, and to take a large shuddering breath before pushing back the residual pain that he was still experiencing from the Unforgivable. While it hadn't hurt as badly this time as it had the last, it was like saying that having his teeth drilled without anesthesia wasn't as painful as getting his fingernails pulled out one by one. No matter what it was still monumentally painful. 

Moving those thoughts to the back of his mind Harry concentrated on flying through the backyards and down the alleyways of his neighborhood with a limp Mrs. Figg cradled in his arms Harry is at her house inside of a minute.

Harry came to a stop outside of Mrs. Figgs front door and allowed her to regain her feet before herding her in through the door she had left open on her mad dash to reach Harry's house. From the inside of her house Harry was assaulted by a flashing red light that he had not seen from just outside the open door, and there was a ringing noise going off not unlike what Harry would imagine a dozen or so phones ringing simultaneously would sound like. Seeing that Mrs. Figg seemed to be a little out of it still Harry closed and then warded the house using the _D__omus__munio_ charm. This was one of the varieties of the spell that he had so briefly seen in the Hogwarts Library and was used for a house rather then a door. It seemed that the Munio Charm was an all around barrier spell with a verity of ways to apply it. He would have to thank Hermione profusely the next time he saw her. The orange light quickly surrounded the outside walls and once again blinked out of sight as it finished covering the entirety of the house.

Looking out the window that was set into the front door Harry asked, "Mrs. Figg, have you a Portkey or anything like that handy? We really need to get away from those maniacs."

Mrs. Figg, who was still in obvious pain from her stint under the Cruciatus curse, shook her head to clear it before she nodded once in answer to Harry's question. Mrs. Figg headed into the kitchen and opened up a cabinet, which Harry could have sworn was not there just a second before. She grabbed a small blue vile from inside on it, and unstopping the vile she quickly swallowed its contents and then after closing the cabinet she turned around and, still without saying anything to Harry, headed back into the living room to the fireplace. 

Placing her wand, which she had managed to keep a hold of throughout the curse and the subsequent flight, on top of the mantle Mrs. Figg picked up a vase, that if Harry was remembering correctly she had told him contained her late husbands' ashes, and after opening it she took out a small handful of powder.  After lighting the fireplace with a wandless chant of _Incendio_, she tossed the powder into the flames and stood back before speaking clearly into the fire, "Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," This was said in a voice much less wavering then what Harry had been used to and as he watched, her hair, that had been up in a messy bun, began to darken from her normal salt and pepper tone to a rich auburn, and she stands straighter with a sigh as her spine straightened out bringing her to a height now greater then Harry's own, which truthfully he admitted to himself wasn't all that hard to do.

In answer to Harry's gaping mouth Mrs. Figg showed him the vile that she still had in her hand and said, "This is the counteragent to the Aging Potion that I had to take while being your guardian." 

Taking a guess Harry turned back to Mrs. Figg after taking a glance around the living room and sweeping his arm out asked, "Is this the Ministry's standard imitation Muggle dwelling then?"

Mrs. Figg looked at him with surprise and approval before nodding and said, "Little Old Lady's House version two, in fact. Very good, Mr. Potter."

"Well, it was almost exactly the same as the tent that Mr. Weasley had got from the Ministry for our use at the World Cup last year, although the tent did not smell of cabbage." Harry said with a wrinkled nose while looking at Mrs. Figg.

Mrs. Figg laughed and said, "The smell is an unfortunate byproduct of the warding that I had set up to mask my magic use from the Ministry and all a sundry. In actuality the warding is named the Lachano Ward, not because that is the incantation used to perform it, but because of the smell. The wizard that created the spell was of Greek decent and the Greek word for cabbage is lachano." Smiling at Harry's surprised reaction to her words she turned back around as Albus Dumbledore's' head appeared in the fire.

Seeing Harry standing behind the youthened form of Mrs. Figg, Professor Dumbledore looks mildly surprised and asks worriedly from behind the red and yellow flames, "Is something wrong Arabella that you had to break cover?"

"Yes Albus," Mrs. Figg says using the Headmasters first name to Harry's surprise, "Voldemort's followers broke into Harry's home tonight and we need to get to Hogwarts before they trace him here."

"And the Dursley's?"

The response, after a second of silence, comes from Harry rather then Mrs. Figg, "They're dead, Professor." The answer had come in an emotionless tone of voice, as Harry had come to a realization after the adrenaline rush of the attack and escape had begun to fade, that he was now truly alone in this world. Because of Voldemort and his Death Eaters Harry now had no living relatives. No family left at all. Harry Potter was now a true orphan, and it was hitting him hard.

~_I have no family now. No one at all_.~ Harry's inner voice echoed and re-echoed around inside of his head, bouncing and rebounding till out of the darkness another voice echoed out an answer.

~**Shouldn't really matter, they weren't all that fond of you anyway**.~ 

~_But they were my family_!~ 

~**So? They hated you, you know that, you can't ignore that fact. They wouldn't miss you if it had gone in reverse.**~ 

~_But_…~

~**No buts, they hated you and the only reason that you even KNEW them was because by some quirk of fate, genetics or some really bad Karma, Petunia was related to our mum**.~

~_Our_?~

~**Yes, ours. We are one. I am you, you are me.  I am just the… darker side of you, your psyche. All those dark emotions that you have had under lock and key over the last fourteen years are what made me. Your rage and hatred of the Dursley's and Voldemort, your fear of abandonment that your parents deaths left you with and your resentment of other people's expectations of you. All these things made me who I am, who you are. I am just the voice that you have given to the darker, and the much more primal, bits and pieces of your soul.**~ 

~_There are words for people like this_.~

~**Yes, I know. I've read the same Psychology books that you have remember? I know what Multiple Personality Disorder means.**~

~_That's it,~_ Harry thinks,_ ~I've snapped_.~

~**Just a little bit, though. And don't worry so much, I won't bite. To hard anyway**.~

Harry's little foray into madness caused him to miss the Headmasters startled look and Mrs. Figgs exclamation of surprise at his sudden declaration of the events at Privet Drive. He stared at the mantle above the fireplace, arguing with himself while the conversation between Mrs. Figgs and Dumbledore continues. Finally Harry's musing on sanity was interrupted as Mrs. Figg shook him out from his stupor.

The fire was now the vivid green tint of an active Floo opening. 

Mrs. Figg handed Harry a handful of powder while saying, "Now Harry dear, this is a secure connection so you have to be specific, the destination is Headmasters Office, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Anything else and I know not where you'd go."

Grinning wryly Harry said, "Knowing my luck I'll end up in headhunters' village in South America." Throwing the powder into the flame Harry made sure to enunciate clearly as possible the destination.

With his arms and legs securely tucked into his body Harry is set off spinning through the Floo network, Harry made sure to keep his eyes open and his mouth shut, as he had no use for ashes as breakfast. Harry was watching the passing fireplaces intently; he wanted to be sure that no repeat of his foray into Knockturn Alley occurred. So when he finally saw the familiar form of the Headmaster he willed himself up and out of the Floo Network. 

It was a truly ungracefully entrance as Harry erupted from the fireplace still spinning, stumbled across the room, nearly colliding with the Headmaster; before finally ending up collapsing into a chair face first that was in front of the Headmaster's Desk and across the room from the fire.

As Harry pulled his face from out of the cushion he turned around to look at the Headmaster and saw Mrs. Figg step neatly out of the fire with no muss and less fuss. She gently tapped herself once with her wand and said something under her breath that Harry failed to catch. The small amount of soot that she had managed to accumulate during travel was quickly removed from her clothing and, with a flick of her wand, sent back into the fireplace.

Settling himself grumpily back into the chair that he had so ignominiously chosen just a second before, Harry announced, with a disgruntled air, "It seems that Flooing and I do not get along." And then after a second of thought he continued, "Then again neither do Portkeys and I. But that's more of a personal thing, what with the Third task." Crossing his arms he continued, "I really am hoping that Apparition is more my cup of tea, because I truly am beginning to loathe Floo travel."

"Indeed Mr. Potter, but at least this time you managed to arrive at the desired location." The Headmaster says with a grin that is nearly hidden by his beard and a bright twinkle in his eye. Harry ignored the comment as Mrs. Figg just chuckled lightly before casting the cleansing charm on Harry.  Then she settled into the chair to Harry's right while they waited as the Headmaster went around his desk to his chair.

Harry got his first good look at the Headmaster that evening as he was rounding the desk and realized that they surely must have woken him up from sleep. While Harry was still dressed in his clothes from yesterday, a gray long sleeved tee shirt with blue sleeves and a pair of jeans that, while they are the correct length, they had to be cinched in at the waist quite a bit; the Headmaster was wearing a purple and silver dressing gown long enough to reach his ankles with bright stars, moons and other miscellaneous wizarding symbols scrolling across the fabric, and this ensemble was topped off, or rather bottomed off, with a pair of bright green lop-eared fuzzy bunny slippers. Harry shook his head at the incongruity of those colors and wondered, and not for the first time either, whether or not the Headmaster was colorblind.

"Now Harry, can you tell me what happened tonight?"

The Headmaster let Harry go through the entire story once before going back and asking for details on certain items. After finishing the story Dumbledore asked for a brief display of the socks powers and so Harry stood up and with a mental command to his socks Harry rose up into the air a little over a meter, before gliding from one side of the room to the other. Harry came to a stop in front of Dumbledore's desk and rather then sitting back in the chair in front of the Headmasters desk he calmly sat down cross-legged in mid-air. 

"I wish to congratulate you Harry on your use of the Munio spell, it happens to be a rather difficult spell to accomplish and even the most powerful witches and wizards still have trouble with the spell. You not only managed to properly use the portal barrier but if what you said is correct you used the domicile version as well. And only after looking at the spell once. I must say that is impressive as I was only able to master that after quite a few years of training." 

Harry was briefly surprised to hear the Headmaster say that, as the spell hadn't seemed to be all that hard. Then Harry just waved it off as desperation being a great motivator, before asking a question that had been plaguing him throughout his rendition.

"Where am I to stay the summer Headmaster? School has only been out a day and yet," With a wave of his hand to indicate Hogwarts, "Here I am."

"Unfortunately, Hogwarts is not an option as I am going to be increasing the wards number and strength over the summer, and can not have anyone here while that occurs."

"Well I don't want what happened to the Dursley's to happen to my friends so the Grangers and the Weasleys are out of the picture."

"Indeed," says the Headmaster. With a look to Mrs. Figg he continues in an apologetic tone, "Arabella's abode, while she is an Unspeakable and capable enough, would also be inappropriate, unfortunately, as the Death Eaters have most likely already traced you to her house and will be watching for yours or her return. It is simply to unsafe to risk."

"Don't worry Albus, I knew I was leaving permanently when I called." Mrs. Figg said in a soothing tone.

"Mr. Lupin and your godfather are also unavailable as they are currently on errands at my behest." After a moment of silence as all three tried to come up with an alternate living place for Harry over the summer Albus looked up with a smile and said, "I believe I have an answer, but I must speak with someone before I can say for positive." Standing up the Headmaster walked over to a red velvet rope that was hanging from the ceiling and after giving it a pull he turned back to his two visitors and said. "I will arrange accommodations for tonight in one of the visitors rooms here at the castle, and tomorrow I will hopefully have an answer to your dilemma Mr. Potter." With a pop a house-elf appeared in the Headmasters office and Dumbledore turned to it and said, "Please take these two to the guest quarters down the hall and get them settled for the day."

The house-elf nods to the Headmaster and looking to Harry and Mrs. Figg he leads them out of the room and down the moving staircase.

Albus looks pleased, as Harry simply stood up in mid-air and floated after the elf and Mrs. Figg. With a smile and a twinkle in his eye he said to himself, "I believe I have said it before and it seems that it bears repeating. Nothing beats a good pair of woolen socks."

**TBC**…

Spells and Other Odd Words: 1) ** Leviosa Turbo **: from levo; to raise up, levitate and turbo;  hurricane, tornado, that which spins 2) **Domusmunio **: from dormus; house, home, residence and munio : to fortify, defend, protect  
3) Lachano is the word for cabbage in Greek.


End file.
